The Assignment
by JYBs Princess
Summary: It's a Rocky/Aisha fic. Just read & review


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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story.

Rocky DeSantos stared at a problem in his algebra textbook. "How the _hell_ am I supposed to solve these problems?" he muttered. He looked over the examples in the book, but it didn't help much. He still had no idea of what to do.

He threw his pencil down and looked around his room. His eyes landed on a picture of him with his two best friends Aisha Campbell and Adam Park. Suddenly he brightened with an idea. _Aisha can help me,_ Rocky thought. _She actually pays attention in class. Not to mention it will give me another chance to see her._

Rocky hesitated as he thought that. _Since when did I start to like Aisha as more than a friend? Well, it doesn't matter. She's never going to feel the same way about me. _He glanced at her picture wistfully. _But she is beautiful._

Shaking his head as if to clear it, Rocky picked up his phone and dialed Aisha's number.

"Hello?"

Just the sound of her voice brought a smile to Rocky's face. "Hi, Aisha. It's me."

"Hi, Rocky! What's up?"

"Um, listen. I was working on our algebra homework, and I don't understand it that well, so I was wondering if you could help me," Rocky said in one breath.

"I'd love to!" Aisha replied.

"How about we meet at the library in…twenty minutes?" Rocky suggested.

"Okay. I'll see you later. 'Bye, Rocko."

"Bye, Ish."

After he hung up, Rocky stuffed his books in his backpack and ran downstairs.

"Mama! I'm going to the library!"

"Okay! Don't stay out too late!"  
"I won't!" Rocky called as he ran out the door.

Dark clouds were starting to appear in the sky, but instead of worrying about getting caught in the rain, Rocky contemplated his feelings for Aisha.

_I've known her since we were two. Why am I suddenly having romantic feelings for her? I shouldn't feel this way about her. She's my best friend._

Rocky was so lost in his thoughts that he accidentally walked past the library. He rubbed his temples and commanded himself to stop thinking about Aisha. Sighing, he turned around and entered the library. He spotted Aisha sitting at a table and walked over to her. "Hi."

Aisha looked up at him and smiled brightly. "Hi, Rocky. Here, take a seat."

"Thanks," Rocky said as he sat down in the chair Aisha had pulled out for him. He pulled his textbook out of his backpack and opened it to the page of their assignment.

"What are you having trouble with?"

"The quadratic formula," Rocky answered.

"Oh, you mean negative _b_ plus or minus the square root of _b_ squared minus four times _a _times _c_ divided by two times _a_?"

Rocky looked bemused. "Uh, yeah, that's it…I think."

Aisha giggled. _He's so cute when he's confused, _she thought. _Ugh, Aisha, you shouldn't even be thinking that. You don't have a chance with him. He's always been your best friend, and he always will be your best friend. He'll never be nothing more._

"It's really not as hard as it sounds," Aisha told Rocky. "Look at problem twenty-seven. _X _squared plus four times _x_ minus twenty-one." She proceeded to explain how to solve the problem. "Do you get it?"

"I think so. Let me try it on my own." As Rocky reached over to take his book, his arm brushed against Aisha's, and her heartbeat accelerated. _Calm down, Aisha,_ she commanded herself.

"Is this right?" Rocky asked when he finished the problem.

Aisha checked over his work. "Yes! Good job. Now try a more complicated one, like number thirty-two."

Rocky did a couple more problems until he was confident that he could finish the rest of the assignment on his own.

"Thanks for helping me," Rocky said as they packed their things.

"You're welcome," Aisha smiled.

They made their way to the front door of the library and discovered it was pouring outside.

"Oh, no," Aisha moaned. "I walked here."

"Yeah, me too. We could wait until it slows down a little," Rocky suggested.

Aisha shook her head. "I have to be home in twenty minutes. Who knows when the rain will stop?"

Rocky bit his lip. "I can walk you home. We'll get soaked, but at least we'll get soaked together."

Aisha smiled. _He's so thoughtful,_ she thought. "Okay, thanks."

"Come on, let's go." They stepped out into the pouring rain together. 

Rocky and Aisha walked towards her house quickly.

"Do you want to stay and dry off for a few minutes?" Aisha asked when they reached her front porch. "One of my parents could drive you home, if you want."

"Thanks, but I'll walk home. I'm soaked already, so it doesn't matter much."

"Okay." Aisha reached up and give him a hug. "Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem," Rocky replied as he hugged her back.

Aisha pulled away, but Rocky kept his arms around her. Before she knew what was happening, he leaned down, his face dripping wet, and kissed her softly on the lips.

When the kiss ended, Aisha stared up in his dark brown eyes. She wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, no words could come out.

Rocky cleared his throat. "I better go. I'll see you tomorrow." He quickly ran off the porch and disappeared into the pouring rain before Aisha could say something back.

* * * * * * *

"Ish, are you okay? You're awfully quiet." Kimberly Hart asked her friend. They were standing by their lockers after homeroom waiting for the first period bell to ring.

"I'm fine, I just have a lot of things on my mind," Aisha replied.

"Like what?"

Aisha looked around to make sure nobody was coming. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

Kim nodded

"Rocky kissed me last night," Aisha told her softly.

"He did what?" Kim exclaimed.

Aisha told her about last night, from doing homework together in the library to walking home together in the rain and what happened on her front porch.

"Do you like him?" Kim asked.

"Well, yeah," Aisha admitted. "I mean, I know he's my best friend, but I like him…a lot."

"Well, he obviously likes you. He wouldn't have kissed you if he didn't."

Aisha shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think he meant to. It just sort of happened."

Kim opened her mouth to say something, but the bell rang then. The girls closed their lockers and walked down the hallway together.

* * * * * * *

Rocky avoided Aisha as much as he could throughout the day. He sat as far away from her as possible in class and at lunch and tried not to make eye contact with her. It wasn't really as hard as he had thought it would be, because it seemed she was avoiding him, too.

"Hey, man, are you okay?" Adam asked Rocky at the end of the day. They were standing by their lockers packing their backpacks. "You weren't yourself today."

"I'm fine," Rocky replied. "I just have a lot of stuff to think about."

"Do you mind sharing?"

"As long as you promise not to tell anyone."

"Not even Aisha?"

Rocky sighed. "Well…she's what this is all about."

"What do you mean?"

"I kinda kissed her last night," Rocky confessed.

Adam's eyes widened. "Whoa. So that's why you avoided her today. What happened last night, exactly?"

Rocky told Adam the details of the night before. "And," he finished, "I think I like her."

"You _think_ you like her?" Adam repeated.

"I don't really know for sure-"

"Rocky, you kissed the girl, for crying out loud!" Adam interrupted. "You don't kiss somebody you don't like."

"I guess you're right. But what if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"Well, she didn't back away when you kissed her, did she?"

"No."

"If she didn't like you, she would have. You have to talk to her about it."

Just then, Kim walked around the corner. "Hi guys."

"Hi," Adam and Rocky greeted her in unison.

"We're all going to the Youth Center now. Do you want to come?"

Adam and Rocky exchanged a glance. "Sure. We'll meet you over there in a few minutes," Adam replied.

"Okay. See you guys later."

Adam and Rocky finished packing their books and walked over to the Youth Center together. Rocky tried his best to control his racing heartbeat and the butterflies in his stomach, and Adam tried his best to keep Rocky calm.

They arrived at the Youth Center and spotted the rest of their friends sitting at their usual table.

"You better talk to her," Adam hissed as they walked over to their friends.

Rocky just rolled his eyes.

"Hey, everyone," Adam said when they reached the table. Kim, her boyfriend Tommy Oliver, and their friend Billy Cranston mumbled greetings back. Aisha kept her gaze on the table and didn't say anything. Adam nudged Rocky.

After glaring at Adam, Rocky cleared his throat and looked right at Aisha. "Aish, can we talk? Privately?"

Aisha's heart pounded. "Yeah, sure." She got out of her chair and followed Rocky to a secluded corner in the building.

"Um, look, about last night," Rocky stammered. He wanted to say more but he could feel four pairs of eyes boring holes in the side of his head. He and Aisha turned and glared at their friends, who quickly turned around and busied themselves with other things.

"So, what you were saying?" Aisha asked. But she wasn't so sure she wanted to find out. _He's probably just going to say that the kiss was an accident and it didn't mean anything to him, and he could never like me as a girlfriend,_ she thought.

"Look, Aisha, I really like you," Rocky blurted out. "I mean, as more than a friend. I know we're best friends, but lately I can't help wishing we were more. I don't know when I started having these feelings, but I do know I like you…a lot."

Aisha broke out into a huge smile. "Rocky, I feel the same way."

Rocky let those six words sink in for a moment. Then he, too, broke into a huge smile. He picked Aisha up and spun her around. When he placed her back down on the ground, he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

They pulled away when they heard their friends cheering and clapping. Aisha blushed and bowed her head sheepishly, but Rocky lifted her chin with his finger. "Ignore them," he whispered.

Aisha smiled as Rocky leaned down to kiss her again.

* * * * * * *

Later that night, Rocky was sitting in his bedroom staring at his algebra textbook. He grinned as he picked up his phone and dialed Aisha's number. "Aisha?" he said when she answered. "It's me. Um, listen. I was working on our algebra homework, and I don't understand it that well, so I was wondering if you could help me…."

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A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.


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